COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES: Founder of the Rosie Fund, which focuses on womens' issues in the community.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: I worked hard and passed the senior and disabled prescription drug discount act, which I pushed hard for several years before passing. I also believe I have good constituent services - I really enjoy serving the people of my district by assisting them with navigating the bureaucracy. This is a strength of mine, and given our current congressman's recent efforts in the district, I think I will offer a clear improvement.

U.S. HOUSE CANDIDATES' QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Please assess progress to date in the war on terrorism. What is your position on America's continued military occupation of Iraq? Should the troop presence be escalated along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border? How do we pay for it?

It's encouraging that we have not experienced a domestic attack since 9/11, but I believe there is still much we can do to improve our security-not least of which being port security. I believe our military has done a remarkable job, they've done everything asked of them and more. I say that not only as a proud mother whose stepson was injured in Afghanistan serving in the Special Forces, but also as an American grateful for their sacrifice. They've achieved everything we've asked of them. But I believe this administration has taken its eye off the ball and lost sight of the real war on terror. Iraq is doing nothing to make our country safer, and meanwhile, Afghanistan is getting worse and worse. Iraq is costing us $10-12 billion a month. Our strategic goal needs to be to withdraw from Iraq as safely and quickly as possible based on the tactical advice of commanders on the ground. We need to re-prioritize and shift our attention to where it should have been all along, in Afghanistan.

I'll leave it up to our military to decide on best tactics to guard the border with Pakistan, be it increased troop presence or more drone aircraft, but we need to make sure insurgents can't simply fight us in Afghanistan and then run across the border to Pakistan. That has to stop.

2. What approach would you favor to counteract the perceived nuclear threat from Iran? What's your position on preemptive military strike?

I favor strong diplomacy with Iran. There's no weakness in talking. Iran can't be allowed to have a nuclear bomb. It would threaten our allies in the region and put our troops at risk. We need all the tools available to us to stop Iran from going nuclear, and tough negotiations are a major piece of that.

There's no single answer on preemptive strikes. Every situation is different and needs to be treated that way. I would never try to stop our military from protecting our country, but the military needs to be the last resort-never the first.

3. What is Congress' role in balancing the threat of terrorism against threats to civil liberties? How is it doing (see warrantless wiretapping, "enemy combatant" designations, etc.)?

Congress has an important oversight role in the war on terror. Our defense and intelligence agencies are addressing new challenges every day and must be provided the tools they need to fight and win. But Congress has a responsibility to the American people to always protect our freedoms. It requires an extremely important oversight role. On domestic wiretapping, a legal system exists for law enforcement to obtain warrants, and it needs to be followed. I'll leave it to the courts to decide whether the Bush administration over-stepped its bounds. That's the role of the judiciary. But in Congress, I will always fight to protect our civil freedoms.

4. What should the United States be doing, if anything, to address the economic rise of China and the seemingly imperialistic urges of Russia?

After watching Russia's recent aggression against Georgia, I strongly believe that the U.S. must give Georgia political and economic support. We don't want a new Cold War, but the U.S. has many tools at its disposal and should send Russia the strong message that they don't have a veto over whom we support or who can declare independence. China's rise must be carefully watched. They engage in unfair trade practices that have trampled the rights of workers, and are making questionable alliances such as their financial support for the regime in Darfur. Ultimately, only a strong US economy can provide us with the leverage we need to engage in successful diplomacy around the world.

5. How big a deal is the record federal deficit, in your view, to the nation's overall economic health? If you believe that the deficits and are too large, how would you address that? Extend the Bush tax cuts, spending cuts, tax increases? If you support spending cuts, what would you eliminate and why?

I'm a big believer in 'PAYGO,' and think it's a responsible way to get federal spending under control. The deficit is out of control. We're spending money today and footing our kids with the bill, and that has to stop. It makes us more indebted to countries like China who own a huge portion of our treasuries and don't always have our best interest at heart.

I favor extending some of the Bush tax cuts but I believe they have to be directed at the middle class rather than the richest 1%. The middle class is the backbone of this country, and it has gone ignored for too long. Prices are going up across the board but wages aren't rising to meet them. We need to stimulate our economy to create new jobs, better jobs, and new taxpayers. As someone who's faced those uncomfortable moments around the kitchen table deciding which bills need paying the most, I know first-hand that it's the middle class that needs tax relief.

6. Should Congress outlaw the practice of allowing member earmarks? Please explain.

Earmarks serve an important purpose and are an important part of serving the district, spurring investment in local economies. But without proper transparency, they can become vehicles for corruption. That's what we've seen in the past few years, where midnight votes have become the norm and even the Members present don't know what's in the bill. We need to shine a light on earmarks by allowing for more public disclosure prior to passage, and make public their purpose and sponsor.

7. With gas prices at record levels, what should Congress do to ensure adequate energy supplies and reduce dependence on foreign oil? Please elaborate beyond the subject of ethanol. In your view, does the United States have a comprehensive energy policy? What would yours look like?

If we're going to cut our dependence on foreign oil we need a comprehensive plan that goes far beyond anything we currently have. The House passed legislation a few weeks ago that I supported, and it's a good start. We need a comprehensive solution - drilling, ethanol, windfarms, solar panels, nuclear, green energy R&D - because any one of those by itself won't do the trick. There's a lot of talk about drilling these days, but our energy problems are much deeper than that, and we simply won't be able to drill our way out of this. Ultimately, I believe wind energy will be a serious component of reducing our reliance on foreign oil, especially here in central Illinois. If you look at the Department of Energy's wind resource maps, the counties of the 11th district have some of the best wind in the Midwest. We can create jobs building, installing, and maintaining wind energy farms, and we can seriously reduce our reliance on foreign oil. We need to extend the production tax credit and expand our investment in wind energy.

We need new research and development into renewable sources. Oil companies are making more money than ever before and must be good corporate citizens, investing some of that revenue into new technologies. We can reward new R&D through tax incentives, and eliminate subsidies for those companies unwilling to do their part.

I supported a bill in the Illinois Senate requiring 25% of the state's utilities to come from renewable sources by 2025. That was an important step, and I would support similar requirements nationally. I also supported a bill that required ethanol to account for 15% of all motor fuel sold in Illinois by 2012. As I said, we need a comprehensive solution, and these are all important pieces of the whole.

8. Some economists think the United States is in recession. In any event, the economy has slowed considerably. The sub-prime housing meltdown has played no small role in that. What would you have done differently, if anything, to deal with that crisis? Should the federal government have interfered at all? What role does Congress have in jump-starting a sluggish economy? Were stimulus checks the right way to go? If not, what?

I absolutely agree that the sub-prime mortgage meltdown is one of the keys to this economic crisis. People were sold bad mortgages that they just could afford, and predatory lending was a big part of that. Hindsight is always 20/20, but what we need now isn't to look back and criticize, but to learn the lessons and apply them. Predatory lending has to stop, and home-buyers will have to show more money up front and prove their ability to pay over time. We must also hold Wall Street to higher standards so bad mortgages, or other bad investments, aren't again used to underwrite our entire system.

The government has a responsibility to intervene. I opposed both bailout packages because they favored Wall Street over Main Street, and I stand by that. Any government assistance has to also help those who are struggling the most, and that's middle class America. The government should help home-owners by allowing those who've shown good-faith efforts to pay their mortgages the ability to renegotiate their terms. We need to stop the bleeding on foreclosures.

I supported the first stimulus package. We needed to get people spending, and a check from the government was a good idea given the information we had at the time. The problem is that they, quite obviously, didn't completely work. There's talk of another stimulus package, and again I support the idea, but it needs to be part of a broader package to assist local and state governments meet their public funding needs, such as helping citizens with health care and unemployment insurance.

9. The first Baby Boomer applied for Social Security this past year. It has been reported that the Social Security Trust Fund could be broke around the year 2040. What should Uncle Sam be doing about that today, if anything? Feel free to weigh in on other entitlement programs - Medicare in particular - as well.

I do not believe Social Security is in a "crisis," as the Bush administration attempted to assert when they were trying to sell privatization. That would have been disastrous then, and even more so today considering the stock market. I believe that run-away spending under this administration is the greatest threat to Social Security's solvency. Republicans haven't been shy about drawing from the Social Security trust fund to pay for many of government's programs. That's the key drain on the system, and I believe that once it's addressed and we get our federal spending under control, Social Security's problems will be much more manageable. Around 2040, Social Security will not be "broke," but it will be unable to pay full benefits. We should put together a bi-partisan commission to work on this problem in as unified of a fashion as possible. This simply can't be a political wedge issue.

I absolutely oppose privatization. There's simply too much at stake to risk Social Security in the markets. Social Security was meant as an insurance program, protecting our seniors once they no longer have an income. It was not created as an investment plan. Those investments exist - 401(k)s and IRAs. Social Security is different. It's a guaranteed income, and as the past weeks, months, and year have shown - there are no guarantees in the market.

10. What should the federal government be doing, if anything, to counteract the loss of manufacturing jobs in Illinois and other states? Do you support or oppose new free-trade initiatives? Please explain.

Trade can provide many benefits, but free trade must be fair trade. It cannot be allowed to disadvantage U.S. workers and I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our laborers and will fight for an equal playing field in terms of labor standards and environmental protections. We cannot create barriers to the outside world and think we can protect ourselves from job loss that way. That's at best a short-term solution and one that creates a host of problems down the road. Instead, we need to do more to provide for our neighbors and friends that find themselves out of work, including better job training and other trade adjustment assistance. Above all, we need to invest in a green jobs program in America, complete with training, for a renewable energy future.

I support free trade, but as I said, trade agreements must be fair to both U.S. workers and international workers, and must have strong provisions to protect the environment and labor practices. We cannot allow a race to the bottom. Each trade agreement has its own challenges and opportunities and must be looked at individually to ensure it's a good deal.

11. Does the U.S. have a crisis in health-care cost and access? What more should the federal government do, if anything, to address those issues?

Health care is a major reason why I decided to run for Congress. Health care is in crisis and needs attention now. 47 million Americans are without health insurance, with 1.7 million right here in Illinois. In every major county in my district over 11% of those under 65 is uninsured. I used to be part of that, and this is a hugely personal issue. When my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, I remember sitting around the table with my mother and father as they tried to figure out how they'd pay for treatment. We spent more time fighting the costs than the disease. We need to make health care more affordable and accessible. I don't know if we can fully afford completely universal coverage, but I know I can take my experience in the state senate, where I worked on programs to improve health insurance, health costs, and health coverage, to the federal level. We need more programs to offer affordable, quality insurance to individuals who want to purchase health insurance.

I fully support Sen. Durbin's SHOP plan that would allow small business to band together to lower premiums. We need preventative care. The emergency room does not count as a health insurance plan, despite what some may believe. You can't treat diabetes or cancer in the emergency room. When the uninsured are seriously injured and go to the emergency room, the costs of their treatment are spread throughout the system and we all end up paying for it. This is a problem that affects everyone.

12. The legislative branch has been criticized the last several years for allowing itself to be steamrolled by the executive branch. Is that true, in your view? If so, what should Congress be doing to restore a balance of power?

Until 2006, Congress was a rubber stamp for this administration and its run-away spending. There were few oversight hearings and even fewer policy disagreements. Thankfully that started to change in 2006, and Congress reasserted itself as an equal branch of government. I look forward to being part of that check and balance, regardless of the administration that goes to the White House.

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